


The Second Ring

by SteampunkCow



Category: Alice in Wonderland - Fandom, gangs - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-13 10:38:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1223224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteampunkCow/pseuds/SteampunkCow





	1. Chapter 1

**"Free light again, let's see what you do with it."** Aron laughed, throwing another punch at the prone figure on the ground. The girl flinches, not letting a sound leave her lips, she coughs up blood, choking, curled tightly in on herself, she took the series of hard kicks to her ribs, one after the other. As the group left, the girl was left gasping on the pavement. She coughed again, dark splotches spraying the cement as she pushed herself up with a tan arm, letting her back press against the cool brick of the complex behind her. The street was mostly empty; Shama thought she was well enough alone now. Just off of parole, a year out of prison, now she was back in town. Jumped back into the gang. Free again. She wouldn’t be weak; no complaining is rule number 1. She couldn’t move her arms much anymore, her head slumped forwards, her blonde-red hair falling forwards over her swelling face. Maybe she'd just sleep off the worst of it. Shit worked well enough before.

Out of the shadows at the end of the alleyway a skinny figure steps. He is shrouded in smoke originating from his blunt. The scent of fresh grown pot and hookah smoke. His hair reaches his shoulders on one side, wild and untethered. He is dressed in an unzipped sky blue hoodie, sagging blue jeans. His mocha colored form is silhouetted by the streetlight. With deep chocolate eyes he looks down at Shama.

 

With a booted foot his nudges her gently in the side of her head. "Can you walk?"

Shama groans tilted off balance and wobbles before falling to her side almost comically, her hair flopping over to the side and the small jewels in her wooden plugs glint in the light. Her torso sprawled to her side; her legs were still pulled up making her whole form twisted. She was wearing loose sweatpants that hung low and showed her pelvis and the top of a pair of neon shorts, her shirt was also riding up to around her ribcage, showing her bellybutton ring as well as even more bruises, a couple of which were yellowing and bleeding. She wasn't breathing much despite her earlier exhale.

 

"उसे हमारे साथ लाने, खरगोश" he says to the albino with dreadlocks who gingerly picks her up. Rahu gently brushes the hair away from her face, tsking. "Another mop-up job." He mutters. "Hey. Hello." The blue clad man waves his hand slowly in front of her face. "Do you know who I am?"

"oo u calln' mop up" she mumbles weakly, her chest beginning to heave, her vision was blurry and she could barely even make out the figure of his face let alone recognize him. She began to black out again, her heart stuttering- they may have jumped her back in, but they also might've taken out a bit of rage on her unresisting figure too... motherfucker.

 

He nods to the man carrying her. Then looks gravely at the woman. His hands calloused from rolling, travel to her face, trying to keep her awake. "Listen to me. When they go too far, we step in. You're safe now." His voice is soothing, with a soft lilt. They take a turn into an alley and through a back door into a surprisingly clean small bedroom. The tall guy lays her down and then leaves


	2. Chapter 2

The room is lit dimly, and smells of incense and sage. Rahu turns her on her less injured side, the bed providing quite a bit of cushion. "Where does it hurt most?" He says plainly.

"M' pride" she breathes, trying to keep her eyes open, cursing the fact she was literally helpless right now. Mustering another push of strength she continued speaking. " why th f do u care" manages to pass her lips before she finds herself unable to speak. And inkling of 'you help someone jumped in and that’s a crime in this life' registers before she coughs again, choking a bit, the blood bubbling from her lips.

 

"Not when they need you in fighting shape. I'm supposed to get you better, faster, so they can use you sooner. I make actual fucking sense." He grumbles, his nimble hands searching any exposed skin for wounds or laceration. From under the bed he produces a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a bag of cotton balls. "Don't talk if it hurts. But try to stay awake." The man soaks a couple cotton balls and starts pressing them into the bleeding points on her side. A compress also appears from under the bed, and he takes her limp hand and makes her hold it over the swollen part of her face. "They don't want to risk losing a member due to carelessness." Light flickers off the chain connecting his ear to his nose.

"fucker." she mumbles, her whole body going limp as she forces herself not to feel anything, used to holding back pain. As he works, countless faint scars are noticeable over her, burns along her pelvis and up her rib cage, a prison tattoo up her spine where the ink was in scars, just notches- but to anyone of the inner crowd they're known as the death marks, one given for every job carried out- be it morality counts, or drug deals, or bigger. Her spine was almost black with them.

 

Pressing at her side gingerly to check if her ribs are broken. When he feels that they are, Rahu rises and runs to the closet on the opposite side of the room. In his lean arms he gathers ace bandages and a brace for her side. "Try to stay awake. It'll be easier to keep you alive."

 

He pushes the sleeves of his hoodie up to his elbows and he sighs. "Move your hand if you can hear me."

Her finger twitches, her eyes fluttering, her body convulsing some as she coughs again, the blood falling back into her throat. Her eyes roll back as she slips away from a stabilized situation. Shama couldn’t comprehend what was wrong; she'd been hurt badly before. Something must be wrong, her lungs felt like they couldn’t inhale, sloshy almost

 

There’s a harsh knock on the door of Rahu's home, a gruff and deep voice calling out. "Caterpillar, you better fucking gives me an explanation for this. Open your goddamn door before I get the wrong idea and tell you off in an unfavorable way." The tall man knocks again, more authority and strength falling behind his red knuckled fist. "Open the fuck up Rahu."

"Hold the fuck up. I'm keeping your best damn fighter alive. Go round front. Rabbit will let you in." He yells at the door, his Hindi accent thick with frustration. His hands go to the girl's face, trying to wake her up. "Stay with me damnit."

He yells into the house. "We got a puncture. I need op room ready ASAP if we want this bitch to stay alive." He then disengages the brake on the trundle bed and wheels it into a sterile looking white room. ((Treatment of punctured lungs

Axel curses, making his way to the front door, his mind reeling and he was seething. Their best fighter, where the fuck did he get that idea. Shama coughed again, barely hanging on to consciousness, her vision blacking out from blood loss, the room spinning in her head, Rahu's voice reaching her only through what seemed a tunnel. She was at an impasse in this battle, totally reliant on Rahu’s abilities.

 

Rahu cracks his neck and pulls on a pair of rubber gloves. He doesn't bother changing, there's not time for that, so he just slips off his hoodie entirely. Injecting her with a precise amount of anesthetic handed to him by Cheshire. The Asian youth was dressed in purple hospital scrubs and was already at work hooking Shama up to an IV. The young surgeon took a deep breath and remembered his training. A small incision on her side is made, and he finds the puncture, maneuvering the bone back into place and using adhesive that would dissolve once the tissue had healed to close the internal wound after draining the fluid from her lungs. He stitches up the cuts he made and wheels a cooler full of bags of blood over.

Axel huffed, still waiting to be let in, his patience at its enth point. Shama's heart stuttered and she began gasping, her body feeling totally numb and heavy, the aesthetic pulling her under faster than it should, her heart racing as it struggled to keep the body up. (Any sort of morphiate used on someone as low on blood as she is could potentially kill her; the effect of the drug would overwhelm the system. And tire it as it cancels the nervous sys, just btw)

 

Rahu takes a bag of O type blood and attaches it to a tube, which he then jabs into one of Shama's veins, draining the bag and being handed another. "C'mon. Live you dumb fuck." He mutters, sweat of concentration running down his brow. The door opens to Rabbit, a muscular albino and Queenie, a short Latina dressed entirely in red. "You can't see Caterpillar right now. He's busy. Wait inside or leave."

"I'll wait inside and you will have that pygmy shit meet me when he's done with his business." Axel grunts, sitting down on one of the small felted chairs just inside the hall. Shama was beginning to fall, her heart beat stronger as she was given the blood, her eye lashes fluttering again as she tried to fight back from the dark, all too aware of what lay there. Surely most others would have lost by now. As she gains the majority of her blood index back, she opens her eyes finally, her flame color irises refracting the light of the sterile room, focusing on Rahu over her. "Hhh... h...wh." She breathed roughly trying to formulate words.

 

Rahu crouches to be closer to her, hushing her. "You're safe. Nobody will hurt you as long as you're here. I promise. Just try to sleep, okay? Get some strength back." His voice is kind and soft, deep blue eyes reflecting a gentle center to the rough outer shell. Rahu stands when he hears his name, saying something in choppy, half learned Cantonese to Cheshire, who takes up post beside Shama's bed after wheeling her into the back room, safe if any trouble happened in the front. Rahu emerges, his blue inked tattoos complemented by splashes of red blood covering his chest. He wipes himself off on a curtain on his way into the front room. "Good evening Axel." He says with a slight note of disdain in his voice.

The tall tan figure that stood up from his seat grunted, tugging his wife beater at his neck, the tattoo in Greek font reading Gaia at his collar bone visible. He pops his shoulder, the action making the open mouth with its tongue sticking out ripple in a way that made it look like it was talking. The brunette looks over Rahu, taking in his appearance before giving him a heartless smirk, almost sorrowful for his long time er, almost-friend. The action makes his eyebrow piercing glint as they furrow. "So, are you going to tell me the fuck you were just doing?" He pulls in his lower lip, pushing on his shark bites with an exhale as he releases his lip, a frustrated gesture of his. "Jumpers been saying you crossed lines again."

 

"Look. I don't write the rule book. I just keep you dumb taint licking asswipes alive. My orders come from higher up than you on the ladder. If the jumpers think I did too much, tell them to come to me instead of hiding behind big bad Axel." He oozes sarcasm with every syllable. His stance is relaxed. Because he knows that nobody has the balls to straight up glack the Blue Caterpillar, seller of the finest pot these idiotic sluts have ever seen.

But then again, Axel was high enough to know any shit he did would still be down right fucking dandy. 'Big bad axel,' the phrase made him laughs, and boy did he ever so loathe caterpillar for not knowing just how on the peak he was. His cover was simply one of the coonies, but he fucking was on name basis with the heads. Him and the other three of the 2nd ring were about as deep into their hell as you could get without being Satan, but of course a dealer wouldn’t fucking know that. They had laid their covers too well, the better to not get executed if they were caught. Evidence one: Shama hadn’t been sent straight to death row. "As far as I remember, lil man, you still can’t take a hit without crying to the bigguns for being bullied. Would you like a refresher course on jumping 101? “He growls, the threat evident. His fists curling. "Now then, without your fucking lip, tell me what the hell you were so busy with."

 

"I don't have to follow the rules. I get messages from blocked numbers, telling me the when and where, then we pick up the pieces and get paid." He rubs his hands together, shoving one into his jean pocket and gripping the scalpel he has there. "And it's none of your business what I was doing. The more pressing question is why are you here?" Rahu asks an eyebrow quirked.

 

"Because I'd rather have something to tell who I gotta tell. So stop being such a lil bitch ya pygmy, and give me some info of sustenance. Jesus Christ." He seethes, trying best to keep his patience, he had heard news that Shama had gotten back and he needed to know. But not outright stating his curiosity was always best when dealin with the 2nd ring. Axel sighs, stepping forwards. "Work with me damnit Rahu, word on street is someone’s back from the dead. I hafta confirm and deliver. Humor me for once." I said through gritted teeth. For once he’d love to pull rank, but now wasn’t the time.

*He said

"A certain Shama is back in town." Rahu teases, dancing backwards on the balls of his feet. He smirks, fingers rolling a blunt from the paper he has in his pocket and the weed growing in a small bucket.

Axel nods, "alright, can I see her, or are you hogging her while she’s in a prone state?" He presses forwards, pushing past Rahu, not particularly caring for the smell of the pot nor their person either.

 

"Ah ah ah." Rahu taunts, holding a strong lean arm between Axel and the door. His smile fades to a thin line. "I'm actually not sorry, but you can't see her. Once she's completely stabilized I'll send my people to tell you."

Axel clenches his fists, for a moment, it looked like he was going to strangle Rahu, but then he grunted again, shoving a hand in his pocket and retrieving a folded piece of paper. "Fine, just fucking give her this, that, you have to do or you will be sorry. She has to read it asap."

"Cool your jets, Axey. It's not really that smart to piss off the best dealer in the business." He threatens his pupils wide with the weed in his system. He raises a hand and waves Axel away, turning on his heels. The back of his skinny jeans sag and one of the pockets has a small set of surgical knives peeking out of it.

 

"I could kill you and there'd still be no one mourning your death, that's how little you actually mean you pompous ass." Axel grumbles to himself watching as Rahu walked away with the letter crumpled in his hand... orders from the first ring for Shama... it'd really be hell if those didnt get to her...

 

Rahu takes a deep hit and feels the anger leave his system like the smoke, dissipating into the universe. He opens the door to the recovery room. The lights are low and blue tinted, casting light on his features. The black light makes the butterfly wings tattooed on his back glow.

Shama is lying perfectly still on the small cot she was laid on, her breathing shallow but constant. She was awake, but her eyes were closed, expertly feigning a drug-induced sleep. She may have been helped but she still hadn't come to any conclusion about the boy who helped her.

"Get up." Rahu says. "Axel brought orders."


End file.
